Roulette game spinner



Dec. 7, 1965 c. RUIZZO ROULETTE GAME SPINNER Filed May 14. 1963 FIGI INVENTOR. CONSTANTI NO RUIZZO ATTORNE United States Patent 3,222,069 ROULETTE GAME SPINNER. Constantino Ruizzo, Cranston, RI. (55 Porter Sh, Providence, RI.) Fiied May 14, 1963, Ser. No. 280,284. 4 Claims. Cl. 273142) My present invention relates to toys and games and has particular reference to a roulette type game.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide. a novel spinner construction for a roulette game.

Another object of. the present invention is to provide a spinner construction for a roulette game havinga compartment for the steel balls required by the game.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a .spinner for a roulette game having a ball storage compartment made integrally with the spinner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a spinner construction for a roulette type game in which a ball storage compartment is made part of the spinner without additional assembly or construction costs.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a spinner construction for a roulette type game which is simple and easy to manufacture and economical to assemble.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view my invent-ion consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roulette game embodying the present invention, the ball compartment cover being removed.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the spinner.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the spinner.

A very popular game in use today is a roulette game which comprises a base with a spinning member with compartments and one or more steel balls which drop into the compartments in the same manner as a large roulette wheel. For the purposes of playing the game various insignia can be provided for each compartment instead of the numbers, for example poker designations or any other insignia. These games are comparatively small, the largest size running approximately 9 inches in diameter and smaller ones down to about 5 or 6 inches in diameter. The steel balls provided with the games are also comparatively small. It therefore becomes difiicult to package the balls so that they would not be lost and to provide for some storage means so that the purchaser of the game will not lose the steel balls every time the game is put away. To avoid this, applicant has provided a novel spinner construction for a roulette game in which a ball storage compartment is built into the spinner so that it becomes a part thereof.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a roulette game embodying my present invention. An annular base 10 is provided with a central opening 11 in which the spinner construction 12 is pivotally mounted for spinning. The general construction of the base 10 and the spinner construction 12 is that resembling the large roulette wheels. The spinner portion 12 is provided around its outer edge with a plurality of insignia 13 which may be either numbers, poker designations, or any other insignia desired for the playing of any game. Immediately behind each designation 13 is a compartment 14 for receiving the steel ball. When the game being played is roulette or a variation thereof a single steel ball is spun simultaneously with the spinning portion 12 and allowed to drop into one of the compartments. When 'ice the game being played is poker, five steel balls can be used and if the game being played is jackpot or a similar type of game three steel balls are used. In other Words the game is packaged normally with anywhere from one to five steel balls.

In accordance with the present invention I provide a spinning member 15 having a shank 16 adapted to fit.

over the central post of the spinning element 12. Integrally formed with the portion 16 is-a cup shaped portion 17. It is contemplated that the member 15 be molded in a single integral piece out of one of the plastics. Integrally molded'with the cup-shaped portion 17 and extending from the upper edge thereof are four spinning arms 18, diametrically opposed as shownin FIGS; 1 and 3, and having integral knobs 19 at their outer ends.- With this construction it is very convenientto grasp the outer edge of the cup-shaped portion 17 between the arms 18 and impart a spinning motion to the spinner 12; However, the cup-shaped portion 17 also serves as a receptacle and the steel balls 20 can be placed therein without interfering with thespinning-or of the game.

The diameter of the cup-shaped portion 17 is preferably such that it is comfortable to reach across it with the fingers to impart the spinning motion. This diameter and curvature is such that the portion 17 will readily hold a half dozen or more of these small steel balls. To retain the balls in place I provide a flattened cover member 21 also molded of plastic material. ber 21 is provided with a flange 22 adapted to snap tight- 1y into a shoulder portion 23 in the inner edge of the member 17. It is desirable that the cover 21 fit tightly so that the steel balls 20 would not be lost during transit and the cover would not pop off during the game. However, at the same time, it is desirable that it be easily removable by the insertion of a finger nail between the cover and the top edge of the portion 17. To this end, the cup-shaped portion 17 may be rendered more resilient by the addition of opposed slots 24, see FIGS. 2 and 3. These slots tend to give the plastic material an additional amount of resiliency so that the cover 21 can be snapped tightly into place and yet be easily removed. The slots are designed to extend downwardly from the upper edge and cut into the sides of the portion 17 up to the bottom as shown in FIG. 3. In the illustrated form the portion 17 is provided with two slots. However, the portion 17 may be provided with one or more slots depending on the size and Weight of the plastic material.

The spinning member 15 is illustrated as applied to a roulette type game. However, it is obvious that it can be applied to any type of game device which requires a spining member and which has one or more steel balls or other small pieces which might be readily lost and which require some sort of storage compartment. The plastic construction makes for an inexpensive construction easy to manufacture and assemble. Other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A spinning device for a roulette type game comprising a base, a rotatable member mounted on said base, a central vertical shaft extending from said member, means mounted on said shaft for manually spinning said rotatable member, a compartment in said manual spinning means, and a removable cover for said compartment, said compartment comprising a cup-shaped member, and said means mounted on said shaft comprising manually 'engageable arms extending integrally from the edge of said cup-shaped member, said cup-shaped member having slots extending downwardly from the upper edge to render said member resilient.

2. A spinning device for a roulette type game comprising a base, a rotatable member mounted on said base,

Patented Dec. 7,. 1965 The cover mema central vertical shaft 'extending from said member, means mounted on said shaft for manually spinning said rotatable member, a compartment in said manual spinning means, and a removable cover for said compartment, said compartment comprising a cup-shaped member, and said means mounted on said shaft comprising manually engageable arms extending integrally from the edge of said cup-shaped member, said cup-shaped member having slots extending downwardly from the upper edge to render said member resilient, said cover snapping resiliently over said compartment.

3. A spinning device for a roulette type game comprising a base, a rotatable member mounted on said base, a central vertical shaft extending from said member, means mounted on said shaft for manually spinning said rotatable member, a compartment in said manual spinning means, and a removable cover for said compartment, said compartment comprising a cup-shaped member, and said means mounted on said shaft comprising manually engageable arms extending integrally from the edge of said cup-shaped member, said cup-shaped member having slots extending downwardly from the upper edge to render said member resilient, said member being formed of plastic material.

4. A spinning device for a roulette type game comprising a base, a rotatable member mounted on said base, a central vertical shaft extending from said member, means mounted on said shaft for manually spinning said rotata ble member, a compartment in said manual spinning means, and a removable cover for said compartment, said compartment comprisinga cup-shaped member, and said means mounted on said shaft comprising manually engageable arms extending integrally from the edge of said cup-shaped member, said cup-shaped member having slots extending downwardly from the upper edge to render said member resilient, said cover snapping resiliently over said compartment, said member and cover being formed of plastic material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,984 9/1923 Weaver 273-l42 1,732,834 10/1929 Carpmael 21552 2,081,255 5/1937 Troth 273142 2,238,299 4/1941 Wilson 21552 X 2,338,774 1/1944 Lyon 273l42 2,429,344 lO/ 1947 Cintron 273142 FOREIGN PATENTS 625,082 6/ 1949 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Examiner. 

1. A SPINNING DEVICE FOR A ROULETTE TYPE GAME COMPRISING A BASE, A ROTATABLE MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID BASE, A CENTRAL VERTICAL SHAFT EXTENDING FROM SAID MEMBER MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT FOR MANUALLY SPINNING SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER, A COMPARTMENT IN SAID MANUAL SPINNING MEANS, AND A REMOVABLE COVER SAID COMPARTMENT, SAID COMPARTMENT COMPRISING A CUP-SHAPED MEMBER, AND SAID MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT COMPRISING MANUALLY ENGAGEABLE ARMS EXTENDING INTEGRALLY FROM THE EDGE OF SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBER, SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBER HAVING SLOTS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE UPPER EDGE TO RENDER SAID MEMBER RESILIENT. 